Hackers have succeeded in bringing a limited port of Apple's new Siri voice assistant feature onto "jailbroken" versions of the iPhone 4 and the fourth-generation iPod touch, though they have noted that the workaround is not ready for a public release.

Steve Troughton-Smith (@stroughtonsmith) and Grant Paul (@chpwn) publicized the hack via Twitter late Saturday. The tweak requires that devices first undergo a jailbreak, the procedure for hacking an iPhone to run unauthorized code and applications.

The two hackers provided screenshots and a video (below) of their success, while reporting that the service was "literally just as fast" on the iPhone 4 as the iPhone 4S. According to Paul, UI on the iPod touch felt "slightly slower," though the actual Siri was "pretty much identical."

Troughton-Smith said that he had boiled the entire hack down to "one line of code" plus "a *ton* of filesystem changes." He also promised that all details of the workaround would be revealed once he confirmed "it works, doesn't break other things and is safe," probably after the release of an iPhone 4S jailbreak. When asked whether a release date had been set, he said no, adding that doing so would "anger the hive."

Apple unveiled Siri earlier in October, announcing the feature as an exclusive to the iPhone 4S. In April 2010, it was reported that the Cupertino, Calif., company had acquired the developer of the original Siri app, possibly for as much as $200 million.

Given that initial reviews of the iPhone 4S have pointed to Siri as a main draw and "standout feature" of the device, Apple could move quickly to block the workaround from hackers. This could potentially lead to a cat-and-mouse game similar to its continued efforts to prevent jailbreaking and unlocking.

Apple's first television ad for the iPhone 4S focused exclusively on Siri serves as further evidence that the company plans to, at least at first, rely on the service to distinguish the device from its predecessor. Some have criticized Apple for taking 16 months to release an iPhone with nearly the same design as the fourth-generation iPhone.

Though Siri is currently only officially available on the iPhone 4S, a recent report from The New York Times suggested that Apple may center the interface of a rumored high-definition connected television set around the voice assistant feature.

Apple co-founder Steve Jobs told biographer Walter Isaacson during an interview that he had solved the problem of a simple and elegant interface for an Apple-developed HDTV.

"It will have the simplest user interface you could imagine," Jobs was quoted as saying. "I finally cracked it."

Surprised the Apple apologists haven't come out yet, defending Apple's right to artificially restrict Siri to only the latest model, only to add a tiny bit more value to an otherwise underwhelming upgrade. "4 Steve," indeed. We all know this section would be full of insults and denigrations if Microsoft pulled this same crap with the latest Mango update.

Surprised the Apple apologists haven't come out yet, defending Apple's right to artificially restrict Siri to only the latest model, only to add a tiny bit more value to an otherwise underwhelming upgrade. "4 Steve," indeed. We all know this section would be full of insults and denigrations if Microsoft pulled this same crap with the latest Mango update.

It is Apple's right to restrict Siri to iPhone 4S, no one is forcing you to buy an iPhone so no need to whine about it.

Surprised the Apple apologists haven't come out yet, defending Apple's right to artificially restrict Siri to only the latest model, only to add a tiny bit more value to an otherwise underwhelming upgrade.

It's in BETA.

If it exits beta and isn't on the iPhone 4, then you can bitch about it fairly. Until then, you're just blowing smoke up your own rear.

Multiplex is an online comic strip about the staff of a movie theater.

Surprised the Apple apologists haven't come out yet, defending Apple's right to artificially restrict Siri to only the latest model, only to add a tiny bit more value to an otherwise underwhelming upgrade. "4 Steve," indeed. We all know this section would be full of insults and denigrations if Microsoft pulled this same crap with the latest Mango update.

What else would you want other than a "larger screen." A dual core cpu, new antenna design, world phone, and 64gb of ram is fine. Fact is smart phones are rapidly maturing and I think the days of "HUGE" improvements are about over, it's like normal computers -- evolutionary movement/upgrades.

For us 3GS owners, it's a great upgrade as the old 4 was long in tooth for me to have considered anymore. With the better internals it made my decision easy to stay with iOS

1. Anecdotes from a few brief tests don’t prove that Siri consistently runs as well on a single-core A4 as a dual-core A5, in all situations no matter what else the device is doing at the time. (It’s highly unlikely to run just as well, in just as many situations, on a slower CPU, even if it “sometimes” or “often” runs fine. Remember that the world is ready to jump down Apple's throat for the slightest flaw or delay in Siri’s performance. If Siri even sometimes bogs down on an A4 chip, at moments when more is going on in the background, that’s still a problem.)

2. If Apple holds back a feature for a new model, for NO reason, obviously that’s their right. As long as they didn’t promise it to people and take it away again. Now, I wouldn’t be happy with that—I’m keeping my iPhone 4 for another year, and I want Siri now! But IF Apple did do what people are (based on no real info) accusing them of, it’s hardly unusual for ANY company. Now, if that’s the case, it IS worth complaining about, I agree. We all want what we want, when we want it, after all.

3. On the flip side, Apple OFTEN brings new stuff to older systems. If they didn’t in this case, that’s the exception, NOT the norm. For instance, pre-4S devices got iOS 5, wireless synching, etc... If Apple’s business model were truly to “make" their customers buy new by withholding features, they’re not very good at executing that plan! (It’s almost as though their real business model is to keep their customers happy...) So while I might complain about this instance if I knew the real facts (Siri never bogs down, and the second core never matters?) I have numerous parallel instances in which I’m very happy with Apple.

4. A comparison: we can be very thankful we’re not an the Android platform (abandonware central) where this would be nothing! Hardware makers there frequently totally abandon you before your 2-year contract is even up! See: http://theunderstatement.com/post/11...ory-of-support

Quote:

Originally Posted by MacInsider2

What else would you want other than a "larger screen." A dual core cpu, new antenna design, world phone, and 64gb of ram is fine. Fact is smart phones are rapidly maturing and I think the days of "HUGE" improvements are about over, it's like normal computers -- evolutionary movement/upgrades.

For us 3GS owners, it's a great upgrade as the old 4 was long in tooth for me to have considered anymore. With the better internals it made my decision easy to stay with iOS

Troll feeding time is over They think the latest Android talking point (“bulkier is better”) will somehow change what a major upgrade the iPhone 4S is, on top of an already unbeatable smartphone experience. They expect people to care that the outside of the iPhone didn’t change, only the inside. But the market has spoken: very few people care.

If it exits beta and isn't on the iPhone 4, then you can bitch about it fairly. Until then, you're just blowing smoke up your own rear.

And the Siri servers already starte buckle under the strain of 4 million iPhone 4S users in 3 days. These asshat trolls never think what would happen if Apple rolled out Siri to 120 million iDevices at once.

As for Cash907's comment on Mango it's been for how long now and I still haven't had the update pushed to me. Apparently it's ok for MS to do a systematic and controlled release, but not Apple.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

Surprised the Apple apologists haven't come out yet, defending Apple's right to artificially restrict Siri to only the latest model

You just did. You called it "Apple's right to." See, you clearly believe they have the right to do that with their products. Don't you also believe that Microsoft has the right to artificially restrict, say, Halo Reach to the Xbox 360 and not allow it to run on the PC, in order to sell more 360s? You make a fine apologist for these company's rights.

You just did. You called it "Apple's right to." See, you clearly believe they have the right to do that with their products. Don't you also believe that Microsoft has the right to artificially restrict, say, Halo Reach to the Xbox 360 and not allow it to run on the PC, in order to sell more 360s? You make a fine apologist for these company's rights.

I'm glad you brought up Halo. No longtime Mac user I know of was made at MS for buying Bungie, but at Apple for not buying them or taking gaming more seriously.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

These aren't reasons, they are speculations. As the post says, Apple is the only one that knows, and without an explanation, Apple is just asking for people to jailbreak their devices by limiting Siri to the new iPhone. I've never jailbroken any of my previous iPhones, but Apple's nonsense and lack of explanation, might just lead me to jailbreak my iPhone 4.

These aren't reasons, they are speculations. As the post says, Apple is the only one that knows, and without an explanation, Apple is just asking for people to jailbreak their devices by limiting Siri to the new iPhone. I've never jailbroken any of my previous iPhones, but Apple's nonsense and lack of explanation, might just lead me to jailbreak my iPhone 4.

Yes, Apple owes the world a complete explanation of all their strategic planning for software and hardware. And if we shoot ourselves in the foot doing work arounds, it's their fault.

Surprised the Apple apologists haven't come out yet, defending Apple's right to artificially restrict Siri to only the latest model, only to add a tiny bit more value to an otherwise underwhelming upgrade. "4 Steve," indeed. We all know this section would be full of insults and denigrations if Microsoft pulled this same crap with the latest Mango update.

Yeah, I've been calling bullshit on this 4S exclusivity thing. It's software. There is no reason the 4 can't run it. This is clearly Apple's attempt to make people plunk down cash for a new phone so they can get the feature.

I can only please one person per day. Today is not your day. Tomorrow doesn't look good either.

There may be technical reasons why Apple didn't offer Siri on other devices.
It may be purely a marketing decision.

That's for them to decide. As someone else said, they didn't break any promises by limiting Siri.

So, kudos to the people who did this amazing porting job. Maybe it will provoke Apple into discussing why Siri isn't on other devices, but I doubt it.

And, if you remember the sad dance that Palm did in trying to make their Pre sync with iTunes, with Apple each time making a corresponding change to disable it, expect the same to occur here with Siri.

Yeah, I've been calling bullshit on this 4S exclusivity thing. It's software. There is no reason the 4 can't run it. This is clearly Apple's attempt to make people plunk down cash for a new phone so they can get the feature.

I guess Apple can't win. They limit a release and people cry foul. They release all at once (e.g.: perfect storm of iOS 3.0, 3GS, MobileMe) and it fails to meet expectations and people cry foul. If it was already a logistical issue to have all these new 4S devices testing the new, still Beta, Siri what do you think 120 million potential Siri users would do to the system? Did you not read about the servers already responding that they were overloaded? This is a finite universe with finite resources surely you don't Apple to not abide by the laws of physics. That truly would be magical.

PS: It's not just SW. Let's not forget that SW runs on HW and all those Siri requests are funneled through finite network infrastructures to a finite number of servers to be processed by a finite number of cycles per second.

PPS: Consiser this: Apple instead waits 2 years until iO7 to build up conpetency, and server and networkig resouces, then release it on all devices that can run iOS 7, which starts Witt the 4S. Instead they decided to do a smaller more limited rollout of this Beta. Now, if in 2014 you found out that Apple decided to forgo any Beta of this tech to wait to releas all at once to all devices getting the latest version of iOS would you have not thought, "I wish they would have down a more controlled rollout instead waiting so long"? I know I would.

Dick Applebaum on whether the iPad is a personal computer: "BTW, I am posting this from my iPad pc while sitting on the throne... personal enough for you?"

Wow, what an accomplishment. A hobbled and slow version of cutting edge software running on hardware neither designed or optimal for it. I'm inspired to put a 12-cylinder engine in my Mini. Kewl.

Actually, more like putting a go-kart engine in a Rolls Royce and expecting it to perform well.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SDW2001

Yeah, I've been calling bullshit on this 4S exclusivity thing. It's software. There is no reason the 4 can't run it. This is clearly Apple's attempt to make people plunk down cash for a new phone so they can get the feature.

And you know this because.....?

There may be all sorts of reasons why it will not perform optimally. Apple is not interested in "we can make this stumble along" kind of performance. There may be a very solid technical reason why the 4S is needed (or why the 4 will not work well under all conditions). Or there may not be. But since no one is forcing you to buy an iPhone, what are you complaining about? Go buy an Android phone and do with out Siri if you wish.

"I'm way over my head when it comes to technical issues like this"Gatorguy 5/31/13

Since Siri and Camera update were the only distinct upgrade on iPhone 4s, Apple might come out aggressive on this issue.
In addition, if all the iPhone 4 users and iPod touch users start using Siri, the Siri system will go down more often than now.
Freeloaders...

I guess Apple can't win. They limit a release and people cry foul. They release all at once (e.g.: perfect storm of iOS 3.0, 3GS, MobileMe) and it fails to meet expectations and people cry foul. If it was already a logistical issue to have all these new 4S devices testing the new, still Beta, Siri what do you think 120 million potential Siri users would do to the system? Did you not read about the servers already responding that they were overloaded? This is a finite universe with finite resources surely you don't Apple to not abide by the laws of physics. That truly would be magical.

PS: It's not just SW. Let's not forget that SW runs on HW and all those Siri requests are funneled through finite network infrastructures to a finite number of servers to be processed by a finite number of cycles per second.

PPS: Consiser this: Apple instead waits 2 years until iO7 to build up conpetency, and server and networkig resouces, then release it on all devices that can run iOS 7, which starts Witt the 4S. Instead they decided to do a smaller more limited rollout of this Beta. Now, if in 2014 you found out that Apple decided to forgo any Beta of this tech to wait to releas all at once to all devices getting the latest version of iOS would you have not thought, "I wish they would have down a more controlled rollout instead waiting so long"? I know I would.

Good points all around..... it is up to Apple to decide what to do with he still beta software. They might have plans at some point to release it as part of an IOS upgrade/update. We just don't know.......but it does seem like Apple just can't win....if they had realsed Siri with IOS 5 and it not performed well then everyone would blame Apple.

Tallest Skil:

"Eventually Google will have their Afghanistan with Oracle and collapse" "The future is Apple, Google, and a third company that hasn't yet been created."

Yeah, I've been calling bullshit on this 4S exclusivity thing. It's software. There is no reason the 4 can't run it. This is clearly Apple's attempt to make people plunk down cash for a new phone so they can get the feature.

Other than pure speculation, we have heard no reasons stated as to why the owners of the i4 are being denied to opportunity to use SIRI. The only actual reports we have heard, based upon tests by a clever dev, are that it works on the i4 to his satisfaction.

I hope this gets a public release. It will provide data for Apple to overturn the decision to make jailbreak in legal. They will be able to produce data showing that the jail breakers are 'stealing' Apple services. There is no reason that jail breaking should ever have been made legal when all of the console mod chips and r4ds devices remain illegal when they provide the same service.

If the jail breakers can steal this service from Apple then it should be ok to go ahead and hack access to Netflix etc.

Surprised the Apple apologists haven't come out yet, defending Apple's right to artificially restrict Siri to only the latest model, only to add a tiny bit more value to an otherwise underwhelming upgrade. "4 Steve," indeed. We all know this section would be full of insults and denigrations if Microsoft pulled this same crap with the latest Mango update.

Quit your whining troll. Typical ignorance and cluelessness on your part, it's no surprise you haven't been snatched-up to run a multi-billion dollar company. Unless you're demanding to work from the comfort of your basement.

People like you make little sense. First, Siri is beta software. That means Apple expects possible trouble with it, which makes sense since Siri is running on a new server farm. From the initial reception Siri has experienced a bit of server lag making its use somewhat muted for some users. In my view it makes sense to limit Siri's use to Apple's best hardware until kinks are worked out. The trouble Siri has experienced would be significantly amplified if it was supported on the iPhone 4 considering the huge installed base (since the hit on Apple's servers would be much larger).

Second, Siri was not an announced feature for iOS 5, which is free to all iOS devices, including those two generations old. If history is any indicator, Microsoft will charge a pretty penny for upgrades, and most Android users cannot run the latest version of Android because either the manufacturer or carrier impedes them.

Third, it only makes sense Apple employs Siri on as many devices as possible as soon as possible, as many are suggesting it is a way for Apple to undermine Google's search business.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cash907

Surprised the Apple apologists haven't come out yet, defending Apple's right to artificially restrict Siri to only the latest model, only to add a tiny bit more value to an otherwise underwhelming upgrade. "4 Steve," indeed. We all know this section would be full of insults and denigrations if Microsoft pulled this same crap with the latest Mango update.

There may be all sorts of reasons why it will not perform optimally. Apple is not interested in "we can make this stumble along" kind of performance. There may be a very solid technical reason why the 4S is needed (or why the 4 will not work well under all conditions).

Still doesn't explain why they killed the existing Siri app that did run on iPhone 4.

I hope this gets a public release. It will provide data for Apple to overturn the decision to make jailbreak in legal. They will be able to produce data showing that the jail breakers are 'stealing' Apple services. There is no reason that jail breaking should ever have been made legal when all of the console mod chips and r4ds devices remain illegal when they provide the same service.

If the jail breakers can steal this service from Apple then it should be ok to go ahead and hack access to Netflix etc.

I don't think Siri is important enough to push down to lower end devices. It's nice in some situations like setting up alarms, but other than that I think typing is still faster and Siri asks to confirm too often.

Actually asking to confirm reminds me of MS asking to save settings after changing them (whereas Macs just change settings as soon as you change them). Get rid of confirmations and Siri becomes faster than typing, but by that time we will all have a 4S or a 5 in our hands and it won't be a huge deal.

1. It's a fake. They don't actually have Siri running. They just have something that looks like Siri for the sake of YouTube videos. They're still trying to get the software cracked.
2. If Apple's infrastructure is struggling with 4+ million phones, how do you think it would hold up to 100 million?
3. Regardless, it's their right to limit NEW features to NEW products. They are in no way obligated to give you the new features. I certainly don't see any Nexus 1/original Google Phone users screaming about not having Ice Cream Sandwich, even though it's "open" and should be able to run it...it's just software, right?
4. Out of the 4-8 iPhone 4s users and 100+ million iPhone users, it seems obvious there are <50 whiners who want everything for free and think they can run Apple better than Steve Jobs/Tim Cook.
5. Last time I checked, when a three year old product gets a whole new OS, iCloud support, new camera features and a few very useful apps like "Find My Friends" for free, that's a lagniappe, a bonus, a little something extra. Apple could've been like ALL the Android vendors and just said "Hey, you bought a phone with features A-C. If you wanted features D-Z, you should've bought something else!"

No it wasn't. The 3rd party app you refer to and the current implementation of Siri are not the same thing.

As far as this goes, jailbreaking is legal, but unlicensed use of software isn't. Jailbreaking your phoen to use Siri is no different than jailbreaking to side-load pirated apps.

Indeed. Jailbreaking to use Siri in this way would be 100% illegal (although it's really quite unlikely that anyone would get into trouble over it).

Tech sites like this one should be very careful not to promote this or publish instructions or links. A simple article that says you can do it and provides instructions could technically be involved in the commission of a felony in the USA.